5 Things to Do Before You Consider Being Self-Employed

So, you’ve been thinking of quitting your full-time job so you can pursue your passion and ambition of having your own business. Well, congratulations for taking a big and a rather thrilling step in your career. However, keep in mind that while it’s tempting to dive right into your life as a freelancer, there are still several things that you should take care before you leave your full-time job. Here, we’ve listed down five important things that you should do before you kiss your steady pay-check goodbye.

1. Start Working on Your Side Business
You surely wouldn’t want to quit your full-time job knowing that you don’t have anything in place to catch you. So before turning in your resignation letter, take some time to build up your side business first. Get various freelance gigs and projects while you’re still working full-time.Yes, this’ll mean late-night works and stressful weekends, but establishing your own client base beforehand will help you earn some money even after you decided to quit your full-time job.

2. Conduct a Research and Create a Plan
Quitting your full-time job can be scary, but what’s more frightening is if you already took the leap and realized that you bit off more than you can actually chew. Keep this from happening by making the most out of your stay in your full-time job. Conduct all the research that you for your business. Determine the customers you want to target, and decide on the services and products that you intend to offer. If possible, talkwith other entrepreneurs or freelancers so that you’ll have an idea as to how you can make a successful transition into a self-employed life.

3. Save Up Some Bucks
Apart from doing all the necessary research, it’s also important that you have a decent savings cushion before quitting your full-time position. Putting up your own business is difficult, and you should be prepared for the fact that you might not be able to make that much out of it. This is why we recommend stashing away an amount of money enough to cover two to three months of your living expenses. That way, you’ll be able to at least pay your bills even if you end up making nothing in the first few months of your business.

4. Take Care of the Nuts and Bolts
A lot of logistics are involved in doing your own thing. So, while you’re still earning from your full-time job, start working on taking care of the nuts and bolts necessary in starting up your business. Find an accountant who’ll be able to help you manage your taxes, and keep your expenses and income organized. Also, figure out what you’ll be doing for your health insurance, file the necessary documents to establish your business entity, and then visit a bank to set up a separate account for your business.

5. Prepare to Work Longer Hours
While it may not seem like it, being self-employed actually involves some serious dedication and hard work. The truth is, you might even be pushed to work harder (and in longer hours) than you did on your full-time job for just a paltry amount of money. Yes, it’s a little discouraging but you need to use that money as a motivation to keep on working. So be prepared for the fact that being self-employed actually involves some serious elbow grease on your part.
Deciding to quit your job to be self-employed can be thrilling, but it can also be quite stressful and overwhelming. Luckily, you can make the transition easier for yourself by taking care of the aforementioned things beforehand.(Source: Business Talk)